Guest Post: Do Not Be Like the Gentiles

Matthew 7:1 (and other passages) instructs Christians to judge with righteous judgment and not hypocritically. The essence is this – be careful as you point out sin in another making sure you yourself are not committing the same error.

This is a good admonition to us all and worthy of keeping in mind. Although personal sin doesn’t invalidate a logical argument one may make, it certainly distracts the hearer from your message if you are believed to be a hypocrite. This is why children of adulterers become adulterers even if Daddy told them to be faithful. It’s why parents who use drugs have kids who end up using drugs, even though they warned them not to. It is basic human nature, and God knows this and gave us reason and instruction in scripture to avoid being the hypocrite.

I want you to consider your prayers for a moment, dear Christian brother or sister. I do not know your heart; you may not know your heart either. But prayerfully consider whether you are ‘praying as the Gentiles do.’ Ultimately, as we look at other religions like the Greek Orthodox religion and accuse them of witchcraft, we ought to beware of our own tendency toward sin in our Adamic nature.

First, let’s look at a prooftext from Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew 6:7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The specific phrase I fear many of us heap up with emptiness is “in Jesus’ name.” I understand we are told to pray in His name. John 16:23 implies we will be asking things in His name. John 14:13 is really clear that we are to beseech the Father in the Son’s name.

The problem is that I think many of us have relegated asking in His name to tacking the phrase – “in Jesus’ name” to the end of our prayers – as if that is all there is to it.

My question for you is this – when you say that phrase, do you really mean it? Or is it the mindless end of the prayer for you? I remember when I was praying for my children one night and I said, “Amen,” without saying “in Jesus’ name,” and they corrected me, as if my prayer was not in Jesus’ name without saying those words. My kids thought that phrase was vital to a proper prayer.

Rather, my friends, what is vital to your prayer is that it is made through faith in the risen Son of God and in accordance with what God has revealed in Scripture. You are praying in Jesus’ name every time you cry out to God the Father through faith in Jesus, whether you repeat that phrase or not.

I am not saying you must not use the phrase “in Jesus’ name!” Do not mistake me. What I am advocating is that when you use it you use it intentionally and that you beg God to give you a heart that truly seeks Him in Jesus’ name. But your prayer is no less acceptable to God if you say “in the name of the precious savior,” or “Amen” at the end – as long as the prayer is offered through faith in the second person of the blessed and holy trinity.

What makes your prayer unacceptable is when you follow the pattern of the gentile and speak words idly or out of habit or tradition. Millions of people recite what is known as the Lord’s prayer every Sunday and God despises their false worship, yet a Christian son of God can say that same prayer by rote meaningfully and acceptably because God looks at the heart, not outward appearances as men do.

So search your own heart and actions and consider if you are praying as the Gentiles do: heaping up empty phrases when you pray. You may not be chanting mantras or babbling yourself into pagan mindlessness, but you may be sinning against your God to a different degree by thoughtlessly offering “in Jesus’ name” at the end of every prayer.

And if you find yourself, (like I have and still do at times), violating God’s standard for your prayer life, repent and trust Holy Spirit to help you to pray as you ought. He always knows better than you or I do anyway. Keep trusting that Christ prayed perfectly on your behalf and enjoy the process of getting to know your savior better through sanctification, even in your prayer life.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Michael thank you for writing this. That was an edifying “devotional” for me to think about my own prayer life, how I pray and also what kind of example for my kids am I setting up. I also just changed the picture for this post brother!

Reblogged this on Truth in Grace and commented:
I touched on this topic when teaching in Romans 8: Romans 8:26-27 In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Note how this couplet starts out – in the same way the Spirit also joins to help. In what same way does the Spirit help us? In verse 26 we read that He helps us when we are too weak and ignorant to know how to pray. This opening phrase must refer to what was just previously written, so we can rightly conclude that the Spirit of God helps to wait eagerly with patience. If we think we can do those things, we think too highly of ourselves and forget the flat teaching of Jesus – that apart from Him we can do NOTHING. There is no wiggle room in that statement. This goes hand-in-hand with the familiar verse in Philippians 2:13 – for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
As the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness to eagerly look for the return of Christ while waiting patiently for Him, He helps us pray – because we do not know what to pray for as we should. There are various translations of this phrase and the most agreement is that we do not what we should pray for – we lack the wisdom to know what we should pray for. Now I submit that far too often we are simply lazy. I tell you it grieves my soul that so many churches pray for one another in trite ways (bless those on the prayer list for you know their needs) for many secondary things (99% of all prayers are for physical needs). It is NOT wrong to pray for another’s physical needs, but are there no spiritual needs in the lives of God’s children? Have we all arrived and have no impatience or rebellion in our hearts? Do we not care enough for people we know who are suffering in myriad ways to actually go before God with their names on our lips? These are things about which we know to pray. The Spirit helps with what we do not know. And when we are truly at the end of ourselves and know not what to pray, then the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with unspoken groaning that we do not comprehend. There will always be times we know not what to pray for, we will always be dependent upon God for grace in this age. When are we not faced with the infinite distance between us and God?

Jesus came to pay a debt that we could not; to be our legal justifier to reconcile us back to a Holy God; only if we are willing to receive Him: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).

God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten son, so that whoever believes in Him, through faith, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus says if we wish to enter into life to keep the commands! The two greatest commands are to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and your neighbor as yourself. All the law hang on these commands. We must be born of and lead by the Holy Spirit, to be called children of God, to inherit the kingdom. If we are willing to humble ourselves in prayer to Jesus, to confess and forsake our sins, He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking of Him; giving us a new heart, leading us into all truth!

Jesus came to free us from the bondage of sin. The everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels due to disobedience to God’s law. If we do the same, what makes us any different than the devil? Jesus says unless we repent, we shall perish. For sin is the transgression of the law. We must walk in the Spirit so we may not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, being hatred, fornication, drunkenness and the like. Whoever practices such things will not inherit the kingdom (Galatians 5:16-26). If we sin, we may come before Jesus to ask for forgiveness (1 John 2:1-2). Evil thoughts are not sins, but rather temptations. It is not until these thoughts conceive and give birth by our own desires that they become sin (James 1:12-15). When we sin, we become in the likeness of the devil’s image, for he who sins is of the devil (1 John 3:8); but if we obey Jesus, in the image of God. For without holiness, we shall not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

The oldest religion in the world is holiness through faith (James 1:27). What religion did Adam and Eve follow before the fall? Jesus, Who became the last Adam, what religion does He follow? Is He not holy? He never told us to follow the rituals and traditions of man but to take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23). There are many false doctrines being taught leading people astray. This is why we need the Holy Spirit for discernment. Unlike religion, holiness cannot be created. It is given to us from above by the baptism of the Spirit. Jesus is more than a religion; He is about having a personal relationship with the Father. Start by reading the Gospel of Matthew, to hear the words of God, to know His character and commandments. Follow and obey Jesus, for He is the way, the truth, and the life!